St. Brendan's Episcopal Church

Today we worshiped at St. Brendan’s Episcopal Church, 2365 McAleer Road, Sewickley, PA 15143, 412.364.5974, www.stbrendans.org, Fr. Ted Babcock, Interim Rector.

Scripture – ESV

Ezekiel 37:1-14 –

The hand of the Lord was upon me, and he brought me out in the Spirit of the Lord and set me down in the middle of the valley; it was full of bones. And he led me around among them, and behold, there were very many on the surface of the valley, and behold, they were very dry. And he said to me, "Son of man, can these bones live?" And I answered, "O Lord God, you know." Then he said to me, "Prophesy over these bones, and say to them, O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. Thus says the Lord God to these bones: Behold, I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live. And I will lay sinews upon you, and will cause flesh to come upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live, and you shall know that I am the Lord."

So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I prophesied, there was a sound, and behold, a rattling, and the bones came together, bone to its bone. And I looked, and behold, there were sinews on them, and flesh had come upon them, and skin had covered them. But there was no breath in them. Then he said to me, "Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, Thus says the Lord God: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live." So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived and stood on their feet, an exceedingly great army.

Then he said to me, "Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. Behold, they say, 'Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are indeed cut off.' Therefore prophesy, and say to them, Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I will open your graves and raise you from your graves, O my people. And I will bring you into the land of Israel. And you shall know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves, and raise you from your graves, O my people. And I will put my Spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land. Then you shall know that I am the Lord; I have spoken, and I will do it, declares the Lord."

Psalm 130 –

Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord! O Lord, hear my voice! Let your ears be attentive to the voice of my pleas for mercy! If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? But with you there is forgiveness, that you may be feared. I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in his word I hope; my soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen for the morning, more than watchmen for the morning. O Israel, hope in the Lord! For with the Lord there is steadfast love, and with him is plentiful redemption. And he will redeem Israel from all his iniquities.

Romans 8:6-11 –

For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God's law; indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.”

John 11:1-45 –

Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. It was Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was ill. So the sisters sent to him, saying, "Lord, he whom you love is ill." But when Jesus heard it he said, "This illness does not lead to death. It is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it."

Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. So, when he heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was. Then after this he said to the disciples, "Let us go to Judea again." The disciples said to him, "Rabbi, the Jews were just now seeking to stone you, and are you going there again?" Jesus answered, "Are there not twelve hours in the day? If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world. But if anyone walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him." After saying these things, he said to them, "Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I go to awaken him." The disciples said to him, "Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will recover." Now Jesus had spoken of his death, but they thought that he meant taking rest in sleep. Then Jesus told them plainly, "Lazarus has died, and for your sake I am glad that I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him." So Thomas, called the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, "Let us also go, that we may die with him."

Now when Jesus came, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days. Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles off, and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them concerning their brother. So when Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, but Mary remained seated in the house. Martha said to Jesus, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you." Jesus said to her, "Your brother will rise again." Martha said to him, "I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day." Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?" She said to him, "Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world."

When she had said this, she went and called her sister Mary, saying in private, "The Teacher is here and is calling for you." And when she heard it, she rose quickly and went to him. Now Jesus had not yet come into the village, but was still in the place where Martha had met him. When the Jews who were with her in the house, consoling her, saw Mary rise quickly and go out, they followed her, supposing that she was going to the tomb to weep there. Now when Mary came to where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet, saying to him, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died." When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in his spirit and greatly troubled. And he said, "Where have you laid him?" They said to him, "Lord, come and see." Jesus wept. So the Jews said, "See how he loved him!" But some of them said, "Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man also have kept this man from dying?"

Then Jesus, deeply moved again, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay against it. Jesus said, "Take away the stone." Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, "Lord, by this time there will be an odor, for he has been dead four days." Jesus said to her, "Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?" So they took away the stone. And Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, "Father, I thank you that you have heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I said this on account of the people standing around, that they may believe that you sent me." When he had said these things, he cried out with a loud voice, "Lazarus, come out." The man who had died came out, his hands and feet bound with linen strips, and his face wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, "Unbind him, and let him go."

Many of the Jews therefore, who had come with Mary and had seen what he did, believed in him…

Bob’s thoughts:

This was an 8 a.m. service held in the chapel, and I can say we were warmly greeted by everyone in the church this morning.

I was admiring the sanctuary before the service: a most pleasing color scheme, and a wooden cross framed in the large porthole window. I was delighted to find a smaller version in the chapel.

A woman nearby helped us find our place during the service in the Book of Common Prayer and I noticed others were quick to offer water and cough drops when one of the women who was reading developed a cough. I was also impressed when one of the pastors was reading from John 11 about Lazarus’ death and resurrection and offered that it was a longer Scripture passage and if anyone needed to sit, they should go ahead and do so. A healthy care and concern for a church.

I wasn’t aware that the same word used for Christ’s Resurrection was also used to describe the raising of Lazarus. Another meaningful point was that Christ’s tears at His friend’s death were also for the sins of the world.

An interesting upcoming event is “Calling All Talkers.” It is a program for ESL learners to hone their skills in conversational English in a relaxed, friendly setting. I was reminded of when God moved us to the South Hills of Pittsburgh and I met a woman from our former church in a Giant Eagle there. She introduced me to her companion, a woman who had recently come from the Ukraine, and explained how she was helping this woman learn English. I offered her the use of my family’s Ukraine/English dictionary and she declined, then I heard her throughout the store worthlessly talking slower and progressively louder with instruction. I felt badly that I could not remember enough from my childhood to help ease the pain.

I was grateful we could partake of Communion after a time of confession and that the servers were served.

I appreciated the pastor’s time after the service.

Jan’s thoughts:

We arrived early and immediately upon entering the church received a warm welcome from the Interim and Associate Rectors. Together they escorted us through the sanctuary, where the traditional service is held at 10, to the chapel for this earlier service. The chapel was cozy and each of the members there greeted us. By the time the service was over and we left, I believe we had met everyone there.

This being the contemporary service, it was somewhat more casual. There was lots of reading but no singing. No doubt this would be an issue for some people, but I did not mind since I cannot sing without discomfort.

I sat next to a kindly woman who is a regular visitor from South Africa, and she thoughtfully helped by pointing out the right spot whenever I got lost.

This church is considering a new ministry opportunity to help adults learning English to build confidence in their conversational skills. Members have been invited to simply sit, sip coffee or tea, and chat, in the process helping the learner nuance better, use words more appropriately, and practice confusing pronunciations. I think this sounds like a marvelous ministry!

I was pleased we were present for Communion; this is the fourth consecutive week we have participated in the sacrament.

The untitled sermon was based on the raising of Lazarus from the dead. He stressed the importance of forgiveness and “the power of faith to overcome the realities of the world.”

We appreciated the time for conversation given by the Interim Rector following the service.

Our prayer for this church:
Father, we pray for Your continued blessings on Your Church. May they ever feel Your Presence. Amen.